Any Plans For Tomorrow...?

In case you hadn't noticed, tomorrow is when we start the End of the World... otherwise known as the Rapture. The Rapture is, apparently, when the chosen few who have been saved are whisked off into the sky to meet Jesus, while those less fortunate are left behind to face earthquake, fire, brimstone, plague pestilence, war and other such unpleasant stuff. Probably giant cockroaches too. I really hate cockroaches.

Since the basic Catholic response to the question "Have you been saved?" is something along the lines of "Ummm, I sincerely hope to get to heaven after a hefty stint in Purgatory!" I guess that we RCs don't actually qualify for the Rapture: I was once told that those people who have been saved know that they've been saved... if they're in any sort of doubt, it means that they're not. When I asked how people know they've been saved, I was given pitying looks. Apparently you just know...

The Crescat has suggested that Sunday be declared International Day of Looting - well there will be all this stuff which the Raptured leave behind. They won't need it, right?

If you want a little more guidance on who gets taken and who gets left, check out this handy flow chart.

My friend Cazienza actually posted it in Facebook, but as she has a blog, I'll link to that instead by way of a mantilla-twitch...

Theology Of The Body Symposium...

The Catholic With Attitude has been co-organising the third Symposium on the Theology of the Body at Twickenham, and asked me to give it a plug - something I'm happy to do. It's happening from 3rd June - 5th June, at St. Mary's University College, and more details can be found on the Catholic With Attitude's blog, so do go on over and check it out!

Wildlife Update...

On Sunday it was a bird. Today saw the next chapter in my kittens' careers as wildlife enthusiasts. Furretti was stretching out on the carpet this evening in a very kittenish and playful manner. I then saw what she was stretching over towards - a big stag beetle. She patted it a few times, and I assume she got her paw nipped, because she started dancing around it.

I'm afraid that I didn't stop to take a photo. Beetles are rather too good at escaping into little corners. I disposed of it. And yes, I know that stag beetles are a protected species... but only their habitats (if larvae are found on a development site, for example) and it's illegal to trade in them.

Anyway, the adults don't live long, and often die shortly after mating. Cats are, it seems, a common predator of stag beetles. The beetles also get squashed by cars. Oh well...

The Guild Gets Going...

The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma has gotten itself a blog!

The aims of the Guild are clear - to raise the profile of the Catholic Faith, and to inform and inspire an educated laity and to evangelise the United Kingdom. Contributors to the Guild Blog will write on a range of subjects including theology, liturgy, canon law and apologetics, and members of the Guild are men and women loyal to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and to Pope Benedict XVI and his liturgical reforms.

Oh, and we'll have the occasional Mass (in whatever Form happens to be convenient, just like the Holy Father wants) and the more-than-occasional blognic.

Murdering Monsignori...

I arrived home this afternoon to find two kittens waiting to greet me at the door, with expressions of angelic sweetness and innocence on their furry faces. I instinctively distrust such sweet expressions, but couldn't identify anything obviously wrong.

I then started work on the computer, and phoned my mother. Mid-call, I heard a squeaky cry. It wasn't a cat, and I was pretty sure it wasn't one of their squeaky toys. I turned round and found Monsignor Furretti looking rather intently at the sofa, while Monsignor Miaowrini was nowhere to be seen. Another cry came from behind the sofa...

I pulled the sofa out a bit and glanced behind it. There was Miaowrini, patting what looked like a half-dead baby bird. The bird cried, fluttered its wings and tried to escape. Miaowrini held it down with one paw, and the bird went still. Miaowrini then appeared to lose interest, until the bird made the mistake of moving again. It escaped from behind the sofa, with Miaowrini and Furretti in eager pursuit.

Meanwhile, I had grabbed a towel. I dropped it over the fluttering bird, which then went still. I gathered the bird up in the towel, much to the kittens' disgust, and carefully checked to see if it was injured. It didn't appear to have any teeth-marks puncturing anything, though it looked somewhat ruffled and more than a little disgruntled. I couldn't resist taking a photo (the camera was out because I'd been downloading the photos I'd taken earlier) but it's incredibly difficult to take a photo with one hand and so the picture's a bit blurred...

I then walked outside and held the towel open. The bird promptly flew off, albeit a little unsteadily. I think it reached some nearby trees.

The kittens then did their best to look nonchalant... I'm still not entirely sure which one of them caught the bird and brought it home to play... I had thought it was Miaowrini (since she's the more adventurous one) but Furretti is the one who sits on the windowsill chattering longingly when she sees the birds flying past... Of course, it could have been a joint venture...

I expect more wildlife will arrive in due course. Now, if I could just train them to bring me a steak...

Crowning Our Lady For The Month Of May...

Fr. Tim decided that we would have an outdoor procession and crowning of the statue of Our Lady between the two Sunday morning Masses today. I made sure that I had my camera with me... just as well, because I forgot my newly-restored iPhone... though at least I didn't lock myself out of the car this time.

We sang "O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today" and recited the Litany of Loreto (the children joining in with gusto), and, in a manner reminiscent of Leutgeb's experiences, one of the little girls was placed on the ladder so she could crown Our Lady's statue. No long blue train held by attendants. Maybe we can get that sorted for next year...

Then several children brought flowers to place in front of the statue...

A Visitor & An Ego Massage...

As I mentioned earlier, today we had one of our First Holy Communion Masses in the parish. Fr. Michael Branch, Parish Priest of Plumstead came to visit friends, and he attended the Mass in choir. I was very, very flattered when he told me that he read my blog...

Today has been very bad for my ego...

I was back at the Apple Store in Bluewater later in the day, trying desperately to get my iPhone fixed. While waiting for my appointment, I amused myself by checking my email, Facebook, my favourite blogs and Twitter. While tweeting, the very kind (but slightly condescending) chap who was trying to fix my phone happened to notice the website.

"Ooooh, are you on Twitter?" he asked. I nodded, and told him that I blogged and was on Facebook too. He seemed extraordinarily impressed - which I found odd, because I always assume that everyone under 25 is blogging, facebooking and tweeting in their sleep...

He then glanced at the open page which showed my profile...

"Wow, you've got loads of followers... "

Like I said, very bad for my over-inflated ego...

Compensation for being blonde, perhaps?

Feeling Very Blonde...

This morning, on my way to Mass, I was distracted at a vital moment. I realised this precisely two seconds after I had slammed the car door shut.

Yes, dear reader, I had left the keys in the ignition...

Fortunately I have a spare key which I keep at home. Even more fortunately, I hadn't left my house keys inside my car (as is my usual practice) and Jonathan was able to give me a lift back home in between the morning Mass and the First Holy Communion Mass...

*sigh*

Maybe my IQ would rise if I dyed my hair black...

Thanks...

Two weeks ago I was bemoaning the loss of what would have been a second-class relic (though I wasn't aware of this at the time, the late Pope still being very much alive.)

One reader, who shall remain anonymous (unless he indicates that anonymity is not required) contacted me to offer me a replacement. I felt a little guilty - after all, I hadn't posted my cri de coeur in an attempt to get a replacement, and I was sure that there were plenty of other, far more deserving, possible recipients of such a relic. However, the thought of getting my paws on a genuine second-class relic did rather appeal.

The rosary arrived, in its original case... identical to the one I had lost. I promptly prayed a rosary for the intentions of the donor... Many, many thanks...

Friday 13th Part 2...

Heheheheheheheh.

I woke up early, and was checking a few things when I noticed that Blogger was due to be down for maintenance during the day.

I'm afraid that I was rather uncharitably amused by this - Blogger is blocked at school, so I can't post anything, even during my lunchbreak, and had been aware that, in addition to missing the Vatican Blognic last week, I was also missing the release of Universae Ecclesiae, which seemed a little like adding insult to injury...

...AND my iPhone isn't working. I'm stuck with my old Xda Orbit II - which isn't quite as easy to read things on...

Sure enough, my Google Reader was almost empty... most of the Catholic bloggers I read seem to use Blogger. The inimitable Fr. Z was posting in solitary splendour... Fr. John Boyle was so keen to get his stuff up that he started a new (non-Blogger) blog, and then, in the evening, the blogposts started arriving thick and fast...

Anyway, from what I gather, Universae Ecclesiae is a jolly good thing. Ok, maybe there could have been more stuff about teaching the Extraordinary Form in seminaries, and what-have-you, but, for the ordinary pew-fodder-type person, like me, who has come to love Mass in the usus antiquior, I'd say that it has covered pretty much everything I'd want. The nitty-gritty liturgical niceties can be fought out by people who know more about it. Damian Thompson seems to agree...

And then, to add a little icing to the cake, I read that the Bishops of England & Wales have re-instated the Friday abstinence rule, to start in September (the anniversary of the Holy Father's visit.) This is a particularly powerful sign to all those around us - and in secular England, this is more and more important. We also need to remind ourselves that we do penance on Fridays.

The cherry on top of the icing is that the Bishops are having a re-think about some of those Holy Days of Obligation... putting Ascension back on the Thursday, for example.

I'm beginning to wonder if that change of heart ranks alongside the miracle of the sun at Fatima...

I Should Be Blogging...

I know, I know... there's all sorts of stuff going on, what with the imminent release of Universae Ecclesiae (the instruction on Summorum Pontificum), the arrival of a papal rosary (more on that soon), various thoughts about a Guild for Bloggers, and things like that.

I did, however, discover the remains of a bottle of Baileys which I had obviously put away for "safekeeping" during Lent.

Having checked that the contents hadn't gone off in the period since Ash Wednesday (they hadn't) while reading various blogs, I have realised that I am not really in the mood to comment on anything. Instead, I am going to go and curl up with the kittens. Normal blogging will resume tomorrow. Or maybe Saturday, if I decide to monitor the rest of the bottle of Baileys (purely in the interests of quality control, you understand...)

Universae Ecclesiae...

Friday 13th might not seem to be the most auspicious date to pick for a press release... especially not for an Instruction on Summorum Pontificum...

Several rumours about what restrictions might be placed on the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of Mass had been flying around.

However, the inimitable Fr. Z says he has seen the document - so the kitty is out of the carrier - and he feels that we might consider putting the bubbly on ice in preparation.

That's good enough for me...

Should I Stop The Kitten Posts?

This blog uses the First Past The Post voting method, and the answer was thus a definite "No!"

32% of voters thought that my current "Cat-a-holic to Catholic" ratio was just fine. 20% of voters actually seem to read the blog specifically for the kitty updates and want more, but I think I shall resist the temptation...

The Guild Of Blessed Titus Brandsma...?

...Of course, the name hasn't actually been agreed... The idea behind not calling it a Guild of Catholic Bloggers is, I understand, because it can't call itself "Catholic" without the agreement of the Bishops. I can't quite see what grounds they'd have for forbidding the use of "Catholic" in the title - after all, The Suppository claims to be a Catholic paper, with far less justification than the blogs...

I had hoped to be able to attend the meeting, but First Holy Communions at the parish took precedence... and then I wanted to try to sort out my iPhone, which had gone on the blink again on Friday night. It soon became clear that I wasn't going to be able to get the thing sorted straight away - and I have come to loathe Apple and its iPhone with an intensity I'd never have believed possible. I decided to cut my losses, transferred my SIM card to my old XDa Orbit II and made tracks for the Big Smoke...

I soon found myself remembering why I hate to use public transport. I forgot that I had to tap my Oyster card onto some yellow contraption - the ticket office was closed, the cash-operated automated machine was out of order (temporarily, as it transpired) and no yellow contraption was visible to jog my memory. My immediate attempt to buy a ticket on arrival at London Bridge was met with hostility and suspicion... and I incurred a penalty fare. My bank card was demanded. I pointed out that I didn't have one with me, otherwise I'd have managed to purchase a ticket from the one functioning ticket machine (card-only) back at the station. A rather rude inspector told me that Oyster cards could be topped up at lots of places. In vain did I point out that (1) I didn't know that I needed to top up my card until I got to the station, (2) there wasn't anyone around to sell me a ticket at the station and (3) I didn't realise that I was supposed to tap the Oyster card onto a yellow thing even if there wasn't any money on it. I was accused of lying. Realising that it was futile to explain that, had I wanted to dodge the fare I wouldn't have sought out the ticket inspector and could have given a much closer station as my starting point, I resignedly gave my name and address, and someone rang up a database somewhere to check that I existed.

Eventually I arrived at Victoria, and proceeded to phone Red Maria to try and locate the hostelry in which she and the others were staked out... After a mad dash inside to powder my nose, I joined the group.

I wasn't sure whether anyone else would still be around (the original meeting had been due to finish at 4pm), so I was delighted to find the group chatting merrily away. After brief introductions and a restorative slug of wine to soothe my frayed nerves, I realised that this was a marvellous photo opportunity. Everyone was happy to be included - Patrick suggested that, being a commenter rather than a blogger, he should be the one to take the photo... I firmly resisted this divisive and discriminatory proposal!

It was a wonderful evening. Starting from bottom left, and proceeding clockwise - Patrick was there as a commenter, as was Liz, though she also represented Jane of the Thoughtful Oasis (who had been unable to cross the Channel for the meeting!) I'd met Bones (aka Laurence England) in Brighton for Fr. Ray Blake's Jubilee. I recognised Dylan (the Reluctant Sinner) from a video clip of the Vatican Blognic where he'd been sitting next to Jane. Red Maria (of the Dolphinarium) is a very good friend of several years' standing - I think we first met at a blognic at the Buckingham Arms. Finally, it was a delight to meet Paul (On the Side of the Angels) at long last, having read his tweets and blog posts and also his vigorous comments in defence of the Faith on Damian Thompson's Telegraph blog!

My only regret is that, not having been at the meeting proper, I never got to meet Simon (Catholic Reflections), Stuart (eChurch Blog), Stephen (St. Paul's Bookshop), Gregg (A Brief Encounter), Richard (Linen on the Hedgerow) and Fr. Samuel (Medley Minute) !

Having read Dylan's account of the actual meeting, as well as chatting about it in the pub, I have great hopes for the Bloggers' Guild (whatever we finally get to call it.) It is certainly not an attempt to be divisive (unless you consider that faithfulness to the teachings of the Church and love for and loyalty to the Holy Father is already divisive!) Nor is there any desire to control what is said on individual blogs, or to be seen as representing Catholic Bloggers. It is simply a way of offering support (especially spiritual support) and encouragement for each other...

I can't wait for the next Blognic...

Cardinal Burke Visiting London...

Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (I'm not completely sure what that is, but it sounds good!) is visiting London and will speak at the conference held by Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. It's being held at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, on Saturday 18th June 2011 from 2pm.

The Cardinal will be speaking on "The Restoration of Church Discipline and the New Evangelisation." Tickets cost £20 (£10 for students in full-time education and £5 for priests and religious.) The tickets are limited, and there's a strict first-come-first-served policy in operation. Tickets can be ordered by email, or by phoning 01322 409 231.

The Cardinal has already been chalked up in my mind as a jolly good chap (based on the bits and pieces I've read, the "bits" being his address to the World Prayer Congress for Life in October 2010 and the "pieces" being this sort of statement on serviettes and Euphemistic Monsters at usus antiquior Masses.) The afternoon promises to be really excellent, and I do encourage people to attend if at all possible.

Quick Question...

In light of the recent meetings for bloggers in exalted places and not-so exalted places and even less exalted places, I have a quick question...

Does unexpectedly running into a fellow Catholic blogger in the workplace constitute an unofficial blognic...? How about if tea (mine) and sandwiches (his) are involved...?

May The Fourth Be With You...

I'm a little tired this evening, and wasn't planning to do much active blogging... but, alerted to the above pun on Facebook (May 4th, geddit?) I couldn't resist posting this little commercial gem...

Sod's Law In Operation...

I tried very hard to follow the Vatican's Blogger Bash on Monday, via the official livestream video, and then via SQPN's livestream... as the saying at the Vatican apparently goes, "Yesterday's technology tomorrow!" The audio and video kept cutting out, only cutting back in when there was a round of applause... I did manage to get a few screenshots, which I'll try and add tomorrow. Interestingly, the connection actually appeared to improve when someone went into the corridor and filmed the participants chatting to each other... probably this improvement was in part due to all the bloggers stopping their blogging, tweeting and facebooking to get themselves some well-deserved fizzy stuff.

Fr. Tim has put up a very good summary of the whole thing.

I had originally intended to join in with today's more relaxed blognic, forgetting that, unfortunately, the Tuesday after the Bank holiday is a work day. Bummer. By the time I got home, the blognic was probably over, but, to be honest, I fell asleep on the sofa and forgot to Skype...

Maybe next year...

New Blog Arrives...

Denita is a Catholic Manga artist, (so only good clean anime, along with Manga-style religious pics) and has just started a brand new blog, mainly to showcase the pictures she paints, which I think is an absolutely great idea.  Although she claims to need help (as a newbie) I'm pretty sure that she's figured out the basics all by herself.

However, I'm sure that encouragement wouldn't go amiss, so, if you get the chance, pop on over to Denita's blog and introduce yourselves!

Did I mention that she loves cats...?

I'm Getting Tired Of Saying This...

I wrote a whole post about people who stop blogging about a year ago, and I've said it before in countless emails and comboxes whenever I've discovered a blogger threatening to remove their blog.

How hard is it to understand: by "removing" your blog you don't remove the links which may have been created. These links tend to get hijacked by adult-content sites. It's all very well to say that we can take the links out of the blogrolls, but it doesn't help with tracking down all the links which have been made in individual posts.

Added to this, sometimes, in order to encourage traffic to visit another blog, a blogger (like me) might post something along the lines of "Jenny has made a good point about this and you can read her opinion at her blog," giving a link. This is done to be kind, as, if I just copy and paste what Jenny actually said, people will be less inclined to go and visit Jenny's blog. If Jenny then goes and deletes her blog, not only does that leave me without a record of what Jenny actually said, but if someone clicks on the link they risk getting diverted to a site selling Viagra (at best) or some really objectionable stuff.

I'm not being paranoid. A friend of mine didn't listen to my warnings about five years ago, and then had to spend several days contacting Blogger to try and get her blog put back up because of the stuff which was now associated with her name.

It isn't rocket science. One doesn't have to continue blogging. It is possible to stop. You can simply disable comments, so nothing further can be added without your say-so. And what you have written previously remains as a record.

Please, out of courtesy to any bloggers who may have been kind enough to link to you - DON'T DELETE YOUR BLOG!